In some parts of the world adolescents are committing more crimes than before. Some say that when somebody commits a dangerous crime, they should be held accountable for it the same way as everybody, no matter their age. To a certain extent, I agree that everybody, even the minors should know about the consequences that their actions might have. Despite that, I believe that rehabilitating them can have a more positive effect on the overall crime rate amongst adolescents.
On one hand, it is critical to make kids understand that being a kid does not free them from having to face the outcome of their behaviour. Giving them punishments like adults can make them more scared to commit a crime in the first place. If they have already committed a crime, seeing the results of their actions might stop them from reoffending. Not giving underage offenders any punishment might cause some teenagers not to understand the depth and effects of their crimes, making the situation even worse.
On the other hand, putting kids behind the prison bars before they even had the chance to understand what they could do with their life is not the best approach. What we could do to adolescent offenders is to rehabilitate them to give them a second chance at life. Oftentimes teenagers doing delinquency are not aware of what they are doing to their lives, explaining what is wrong and what they can do instead is a great way to transform their point of view of their life. For example, when the teenagers fully understand the way they harm both the society and themselves, they would be more likely to be deferred from reoffending.
Overall, even though not punishing teenagers might make them not understand the seriousness of the situation, I believe, rehabilitating them to reform their lives is a better approach that can reduce the number of crimes being committed by underaged people.